Wikipedia is ringing in the New Year with $16 million in donations collected this holiday season.

Founder Jimmy Wales said in a post today that the fundraiser was the most successful in the history of the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, parent of Wikipedia.

"This year is a little more incredible than most because this year we celebrate Wikipedia's tenth anniversary," Wales wrote. "It's so important that we kick the year off just like this: by fully funding the Wikimedia Foundation's budget to support Wikipedia and all the sister projects as we head into the next decade of our work together."

Wales also offered up some other numbers, saying the foundation and its ad-free sites had enjoyed more than 500,000 donations, nearly 130,000 donations to local Wikimedia chapters worldwide, two of the largest fundraising days in Wikipedia history, and an average donation size of about $22.

"This fundraiser had all the ingredients of what we love about Wikimedia projects: people come together, contribute what they have, and together we do something amazing," Wales wrote. He also pointed out that it's not too late to pitch in.

About the author

Edward Moyer is an associate editor at CNET News and a many-year veteran of the writing and editing world. He enjoys taking sentences apart and putting them back together. He also likes making them from scratch.
See full bio